26 März 2013

Metabolix to Distribute Tianjin GreenBio's SoGreen™ Heat Shrink Film in the U.S. and Europe

Metabolix, Inc., an innovation-driven bioscience company focused on delivering sustainable solutions for plastics, chemicals and energy, today announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Tianjin GreenBio Materials Co., Ltd. (“GreenBio”), a biomaterials company based in Tianjin, China. Under the terms of the agreement, Metabolix will distribute GreenBio’s SoGreen™ heat shrink film in Europe and will be the exclusive distributor in the Americas. In addition to a distribution relationship, Metabolix and GreenBio have also signed a supply agreement for PHA biopolymers. Under the arrangement, GreenBio will supply PHA resins to Metabolix, which will extend the range and availability of the Company’s PHA products.

“Tianjin GreenBio has developed a heat shrink film based on PHA biopolymers. This product complements our product slate aimed at film and bag applications and we expect will be of interest to customers in the U.S. and Europe seeking biobased materials and biodegradable performance,” said Bob Engle, vice president, business and commercial development, biopolymers, at Metabolix. “With products and technology that are complementary, the distribution and PHA supply agreements mark a first step toward potentially working with Tianjin to develop additional PHA biopolymer products.”

Tianjin GreenBio offers two grades of heat shrink film that are used to bind together items for packaging, shipping, and storage. One SoGreen product is designed to replace non-compostable PVC film often used to package boxed goods, software and other non-edible products. The other is designed to replace softer polyethylene films, also not compostable and often used for wrapping multiple items, often bulky and irregular in shape, such as packs of bottled water. The SoGreen heat shrink film resins (2001 and 3001) are certified by DIN CERTCO to meet the EN 13432 standard for compostable plastics.

“We are excited to work with Metabolix to gain greater exposure for our products in the Americas and Europe,” said Dr. Lu Weichuan, chairman and president of Tianjin GreenBio. “Metabolix has extensive experience in biopolymers, and we look forward to working together to build the market for PHA-based biopolymer products.”

About Tianjin GreenBio Materials Co., Ltd.Tianjin GreenBio Materials Co., Ltd. (“GreenBio”) is dedicated to the development, production and sale of fully degradable biobased polymer materials from PHA. GreenBio has established a production base for PHA in Binhai District, Tianjin, China with a design capacity of 10 KTPA. GreenBio’s vision is to promote the use of fully biodegradable materials in people’s lives and to reduce the depletion of oil resources in order to effectively decrease greenhouse gas emissions and make contributions to the sustainable development of society.

About MetabolixMetabolix, Inc. is an innovation-driven bioscience company delivering sustainable solutions to the plastics, chemicals and energy industries. Metabolix is developing and commercializing a family of high-performance biopolymers targeted to the markets for film and bag applications, performance additives and functional biodegradation. Metabolix’s biobased chemicals platform utilizes its novel “FAST” recovery process to enable the production of cost-effective, “drop-in” replacements for petroleum-based industrial chemicals. Metabolix is also developing a platform for co-producing plastics, chemicals and energy from crops. Metabolix has established an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio that, together with its knowledge of advanced industrial practice, provides a foundation for industry collaborations.